Mikie Mahtook, right, hopes to fill a void in center field for the Tigers.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

This is an opinion piece by MLive.com columnist David Mayo.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The son has looked up a few of his father's old football videos. But more than 30 years after man's last game, they are difficult to find in quantity.

Mikie Mahtook did see himself in Michael Mahtook when he watched the old LSU clips. His father, a linebacker at the southern football powerhouse, was a little bit bigger. Otherwise, they looked the same, carried themselves the same, were one of each other.

Mikie Mahtook, a Detroit Tigers center fielder who is involved in the club's only open position competition this spring, lost his father 23 years ago this June. Michael Mahtook was playing tennis when stricken by a heart attack. He was 32.

Mikie Mahtook, 27 years old now, was 4 when his father died. He never has stopped carrying the memory.

He wears the number 54 scrawled on his cleats. It is emblazoned on the barrel of his custom bats. It is a tribute to his father, who wore that jersey number at LSU.

"I obviously think about him all the time," Mahtook said. "He still lives in me through stories from my mom, my uncles, and his friends. I don't ever feel like he's been completely gone. I feel like I have a relationship even though he hasn't been here."

The Tigers acquired Mahtook from the Tampa Bay Rays after choosing to trade Cameron Maybin rather than exercise his $9 million option.

That left a gap in center field, where the Tigers could go a number of ways, including a potential platoon. JaCoby Jones could win the everyday job, or right-handed-hitting Mahtook and left-handed-hitting Tyler Collins could end up in a platoon. Four others are competing for spots that include playing some center field: Juan Carlos Perez, Alex Presley, Andrew Romine or Anthony Gose.

It is the position the Tigers are watching closest this spring because it is the only one without a clearly established hierarchy.

"Those guys that are involved for potential center fielders, they know it's open," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "It's a performance-based game. I don't love judging people on spring training. But in this case we're going to have to use it a little bit."

Mahtook was traded by the Rays after a disappointing second season when an oblique at the beginning of the season, then a broken left hand when hit by a pitch in midseason, cost him 1 1/2 months apiece.

He played 65 games but his numbers fell off dramatically from his rookie season in batting average (.295 to .195), on-base percentage (.351 to .231), and slugging (.619 to .292), among several other statistical measures.

"It was a bunch of different things," he said. "I never had consistent time playing. I was hurt for a while and that was the first time, in baseball, that I'd ever been hurt. You learn from it, you move on, you become a better player for it, and you just keep pushing."

Tigers general manager Al Avila saw potential for adding a value piece while also creating the possibility of using Mahtook in a productive platoon with Collins.

Mahtook has slightly more career at-bats against right-handers than left-handers. But nine of his 12 career home runs and 20 of 30 RBIs have come off left-handers, and he hits them for a much higher percentage (.276 to .192).

Mahtook never bought a home in Tampa, so reacting to the Detroit trade was relatively easy. The native of Lafayette, La., has lived in Baton Rouge since following his father to LSU. Paul Mainieri, the legendary LSU baseball coach, offered a positive review to Avila when the Tigers were considering the move for Mahtook.

The Tigers acquired Mahtook in January. The next day, he was in Detroit, participating in the winter FanFest event.

"It's a great opportunity. It's a great group of guys, a great team," he said. "I feel like the vibe here, it's awesome. I haven't been here long but it's easy to see why the expectations are so high. I'm just going out there trying to win a spot and play as well as I can. Be the best player I can be and help us win as many games as I can."

Number 54 never will be far away.

Mahtook has taken an active role by creating the Mikie Mahtook Foundation, with a primary cause of contributing to the fight against heart disease.

He almost followed in his father's athletic shoes, and not just by wearing the number written on his own. Mahtook was one of the top high school quarterbacks in football-rich Louisiana before graduating in 2008 from Lafayette's St. Thomas More High School.

He briefly considered trying both sports in college.

"Ultimately, I decided that just doing one was probably the best route, and baseball was probably my best way to go," he said. "It was hard to give it up. Football always has a soft spot in my heart. Growing up, that was probably my first love."